Monthly Archives: September 2015

The Summer Research Poster Session happened in RKC on Sep 24. Students presented results of their summer projects, both from the Bard Summer Research Institute (BSRI) program, and from various external research internships. About eighty people attended the session, which was quite a crowd for this late hour, and some incredibly interesting conversations happened at the posters.

January Intersession 2016

The Bard College at Simon’s Rock program in Montserrat is an opportunity for students to engage both theoretically and practically in tropical ecology, conservation biology, and island and global sustainability issues. This year, in partnership with Marist College and Bard College, students will have the opportunity to study the island’s ecology, including endangered and endemic species; receive training in ecological survey methods; and participate in one of several opportunities for community service.

Daniela Anderson came to Bard having recently visited leper colonies in Nepal, and received a grant through Bard’s Trustee Leader Scholar (TLS) Program to create a program that supports these colonies. Later in her undergraduate career, she and a friend bicycled across the US to raise awareness and funds for leper colonies. In the summer of her junior year, Daniela earned a competitive NSF-REU award to study genetics of cancer growth; her summer research grew into her senior project, which examined the effects of micro RNA on the differentiation of cancer cells as a means of making them susceptible to existing therapies. Daniela earned a prestigious Watson Fellowship, which funded her for a year following graduation to visit existing leper colonies around the world and learn about both the medical and human impacts of this disease, which still infects tens of thousands of people annually. She is planning to pursue medicine as a career.

It was known for some time that Xenopus tadpoles try to avoid collisions with objects that approach them, but until now it was not quite clear what part of the brain detects potential collisions and makes the tadpole change its swimming trajectory. In this study Dr. Arseny Khakhalin shows that most likely this calculation happens in the midbrain region called the optic tectum.

The ticks that harbor the bacterium that causes Lyme disease can also carry other pathogens. Dr. Felicia Keesing and co-authors showed that ticks are more likely to be coinfected with the organism that causes babesiosis than expected by chance, as ticks are likely to acquire both pathogens when they feed on a single small-mammal host.

The Bard College biology program offers courses and research opportunities in the most exciting areas of biology research today — biodiversity, neuroscience, emerging infectious diseases, climate change, evolution, and more. Students in the program receive outstanding preparation for all areas of graduate study in the biological sciences and health professions. Our program gives all students the opportunity to be critical thinkers in the world of science, and to gain hands-on experience designing and conducting biological experiments.